Easy Vegan Macaroons (6 ingredients!)

Have you tried using it yet? It may seem intimidating at first, but once you do it once, it’s like second nature.

Ever since discovering the magic of aquafaba, I’ve saved every drop of chickpea brine from my canned chickpeas to put to good use in recipes like THESE aquafaba macaroons! Let’s do this!

This recipe is simple, requiring just 6 ingredients. Plus, from start to finish, it requires about 45 minutes.

The base is toasted shredded coconut (not to be confused with desiccated coconut, which is much stiffer).

When it comes to shredded coconut, you want it as light and fluffy as possible. I included two brand recommendations in the notes!

The other important element in this recipe is aquafaba. The structure and the makeup of this magical brine allow it to be whipped into things like meringue and mayonnaise and used as a fluffy egg substitute in things like donuts, cakes, and cookies!

In this recipe, the aquafaba is whipped into semi-stiff peaks. Then you simply add a little salt, vanilla, coconut oil, and maple syrup – which keeps this recipe naturally sweetened!

All that’s left to do is stir your maple-sweetened coconut into your aquafaba base, scoop, and bake.

The dough should be wet but scoopable. This is key! If it’s too dry, the macaroons will be crumbly. If it’s too wet, they won’t fluff up in the oven. I include some tips in the instructions to help you achieve the right texture.

The name of the baking game here is slow and low. I bake these for 20 minutes at 325 degrees F (162 C) and then 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees F (176 C). This allows the macaroons to firm up, and the higher temperature adds a beautiful golden-brown exterior.

YUM. You can enjoy these macaroons as is or create a quick, 2-ingredient chocolate coating to dip and drizzle them with. This is completely optional, but it takes them to the next level for sure!

I hope you all LOVE these macaroons! They’re:

Fluffy
Crisp on the outside
Tender on the inside
Coconutty
Perfectly sweet
Easy to make
& Insanely delicious

These would make the perfect healthier dessert to have on hand during the week or for road trips and picnics. They’re extremely portable, which makes them ideal gifts or treats to bring along to baby showers, bridal showers, BBQs, and more.

CHOCOLATE COATING optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C) and spread coconut on a baking sheet (or more baking sheets if making a larger batch). Toast for 2-4 minutes or until just slightly golden brown (be careful not to burn // see photo). Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (162 C).

Transfer coconut to a food processor (or a mixing bowl) and add just under half of the maple syrup (3 Tbsp or 45 ml maple syrup as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size). Pulse a few times (or stir) to combine, being careful not to overmix. This will slightly moisten and sweeten the coconut (see photo). Set aside.

To a large mixing bowl, add aquafaba and cream of tartar (optional), and whip with a hand or stand mixer (you can whisk by hand, but it takes longer).

Once fluffy and semi-stiff peaks have formed (see photo), add remaining maple syrup (4 Tbsp or 60 ml maple syrup as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size), vanilla, and salt and whip again to combine. Lastly, pour in melted coconut oil and whip again to combine. At this point, taste your aquafaba and see if it needs any more sweetness. You can add either a little stevia or a bit more maple syrup. But don’t go overboard with the maple syrup or it may deflate your aquafaba.

Start with adding 3/4 of your coconut to the aquafaba and fold/stir to combine. If it looks too wet, add more coconut flakes a little at a time until you get a very moist “dough” (see photo). If the dough is too wet, they won't rise in the oven. If it's too dry, they will be crumbly. So be sure to add a little at a time until the proper texture is achieved. If you add all of the coconut and it still appears too wet, it's fine to add a little untoasted coconut!

Measure out heaping 1 Tbsp amounts (I like this scoop) and scoop onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees F (162 C) for 25 minutes. Then increase heat to 350 degrees F (176 C) and bake for 8-10 min more or until golden brown and semi-firm to the touch (see photo).

Let cool. Then enjoy. For a chocolate coating (optional), melt vegan dark chocolate and coconut oil over a double boiler (or in the microwave in 30 second increments) until smooth and creamy. Then dip the macaroons into the chocolate and place on a parchment- or wax paper-lined baking sheet or serving platter. Drizzle the tops with remaining chocolate and set in the refrigerator (or freezer) to cool until the chocolate is firm to the touch.

Store leftover macaroons covered and at room temperature up to 3 days, in the refrigerator up to 5 days, or in the freezer up to 1 month. They are crispy the first day and then tend to soften, which is normal. They are still delicious though! Just best when fresh.

Notes

*The brand of shredded coconut you buy will determine how much you add. I used a mix of Trader Joe’s unsweetened shredded coconut (which is light and stringy) and Let’s Do Organic Unsweetened Shredded Coconut, which is light and fluffy and shredded (but much lighter in texture and weight than desiccated coconut, which is entirely different). In the recipe, I recommend starting with 3 cups and then working your way up to 4 cups, depending on how fluffy your aquafaba is and which brand of coconut you have.*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with 4 cups shredded coconut per 22 macaroons and without the chocolate topping/shell.*Recipe loosely adapted from the Kitchn.

Those look very tasty! Though I have to say as a french girl, these aren’t macaroons at all. But that’s ok they still seem great. It’s just always funny (in a good way!) to see what happens to french cuisine all around the world. :D

Hi! This recipe looks amazing! I was just wondering, I recently found vegan condensed milk (made from coconut!) and was hoping to use it to make vegan macaroons. Do you think I could incorporate this into the recipe somehow? And if so, how?

There is a macaroon recipe in Silver Palate Cookbook that uses condensed milk. I stopped making them when we gave up dairy. The coconut condensed milk should be reflect. Everything else is vegan- flour, coconut, salt, etc.

I don’t buy canned chick peas; I cook my own in large batches and freeze them. Would I use the soaking liquid or the cooking liquid for aquafaba? And if the liquid is salted should I reduce the salt in the recipe, or do your canned chickpeas contain salt as well? Thanks!

Wow. Not only did you once again introduce me to a great recipe, this time you also bring some great music! It’s pretty much a heatwave around here currently so I’m hiding from ovens and every other kitchen appliance but my fridge, but will be making these as soon as the sun decides to behave again.

can aquafaba be created at home? we cook chickpeas all the time.. but fresh.. not caned.. in fact we do not get or eat canned stuff here in india.. i am completely vegetarian and there are los of people like me her.
this will help all of us if we know how to create aquafaba from scratch
thank you

Help! I made these tonight and while they taste delicious, the dough did not stick together at all like I expected them too. They were so watery even after the 4 cups of coconut so I had to add a lot of extra untoasted coconut. I did my best to scoop them onto the baking sheet but they started to fall apart and by the end of the cooking time, they had crumbled apart. I desperately want a good vegan macaroon recipe which I suspect this is. It was probably just user error. Oh, and I thought maybe the aquafaba was the problem but it was whipped into soft peaks and looked like it did in your photos. Thank you in advance!

I made this batter and after adding 3/4 of the coconut mixture it was so crumbly it fell apart, even after I packed it into the scoop. Now I don’t know what to do. Should I make more of the aquafaba mixture?

Love the idea of this recipe, but I came upon a problem. As soon as I added the melted coconut oil to the aquafaba it went straight to liquid. This was after melting the oil and then letting it cool a little bit. Now my mixture is ruined and I’ll need to run back to the store to continue the recipe.

I made the aquafaba before toasting the coconut oil because I thought it might take more time. Is this something that I need to make and use right away? It only sat for maybe 10 min max

I just made them and they didn’t stick together AT ALL. I followed everything without any change, and only used 3/4 of coconut mixture as said in the methods :( I’m eating the mixture as a topping to fruit/bowls, delicious but not what I wanted!

Thank you….I LOVE these! I’m counting my daily macros and these have given my sweet tooth a relief and keeping me on track. I followed the recipe (without adding stevia) and definitely had to push the dough together to get it to stick pre-baking but they baked up beautifully!

Hi I just made these and burnt the first batch, reduced the time to 12 mins at 325 then 8 mins st 350, bottoms burnt black…third batch reduced the time even more to 10mins at 325 and 4 mins at 350…better but bottoms still very dark ? The batter was delicious raw! Did anyone else have an issue with burnt bottoms?

I think there may be an issue with the cup/grams conversion in the recipe — my package of coconut was 200g and when I poured it into my measuring cup it was equal to two cups — I wonder if this is why people had issues with the dough? 400g of coconut would probably work better!

The recipe did not work on the first try. My Aquafaba mix went completely flat when the melted coconut was added. On the second go I drizzled the coconut with the oil and didn’t put any in the whipped aquafaba and it worked. Also used just 3/4 of the coconut and they held up nicely when scooped and didn’t crimble once baked. Great recipe with that minor adjustment!

Sad to say this is one of the first recipes of yours that was a total dude. Tried to follow the special instructions about too much or not enough liquid however for me they completely crumbled apart. The flavour is great although I cannot pick them up. Maybe just sprinkle the crumbs in my granola for breakfast. Too exacting a recipe

I was wary of the comments that said these crumbled/fell apart — an ongoing problem I’ve experienced in my experimental vegan baking. When I got to the point of making balls from the dough, I could tell they wouldn’t hold together. I am personally not vegan (just veg/dairy-free) so I went rogue and added one egg and a hefty sprinkle of chickpea flour. Just pulled them out of the oven and they are PERFECT. I’ve never made macaroons that were so fluffy before!

I just made these and they turned out perfectly! I read through all the comments first and the only change I made was adding the coconut oil to the toasted coconut/maple syrup instead of directly to the aquafaba mixture. I used my Vitamix/small container to whip the aquafaba and it was super fluffy so I used all 4 cups of coconut and it made 28 cookies. I also firmly packed my (similar to Dana’s) 1tbsp scoop to form them. First batch I baked on my trusty stoneware but I prefer the second batch baked on a real cookie sheet with parchment. They are toasty, coconutty perfection!

Made these tonight and unfortunately they fell apart. Maybe I didn’t pack them enough or the temp was off. Regardless they tasted delicious and the crumbles are going in pancakes and on top of oatmeal tomorrow morning. They’re so simple I’d try them again for certain.

Next thing you know, people will be putting aquafaba in their smoothies. Unless if there are smoothie recipes with aquafaba RIGHT NOW, then oh GOLLY AQUAFABA CAN DO EVERYTHING! Jokes aside, this is a total no-brainer success, I’m sure of it! I really want to try using this with Stevia–do you recommend using liquid Stevia or solid crystal Stevia?

I love coconut, easy and desserts, so this is one recipe I can’t wait to try. Thank you for always being on the foodie frontier of exploration!

Speaking of desserts, and I LOVE all your recipes, but, there’s no way to post a question or request for a recipe. So, here goes: I have to make a dish for an Ecstatic Dance event in Laguna Beach in July (yes, we’ll even be dancing on the beach) and I plan to make chocolate cupcakes from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World recipe, but I need and want a tasty vegan cream cheese icing recipe. He vegan frostings I’ve made are lacking in flavor and consistency. That’s my favorite combination to have chocolate cake with vanilla icing). Do you have a posted vegan icing already on your site that tastes good or can you put something together for me before July 22? I’d love a link or recipe! Thank you!

Hi! I made this tonight, but had to give up the ghost when my assembled coconut “dough” wasn’t sticky enough to hold together. It was mushy and let go of a ton of liquid when squeezed. I’m not sure what I did wrong — could it be I used the wrong type of shredded coconut (mine was Great Value brand)? did I put in too much coconut oil? I measured it out after melting instead of before. Or should I have used the cream of tartar in the whipped aquafaba (I didn’t)?

Hi Teresa! I would have added the cream of tartar to the whipped aquafaba to help it thicken! Additionally, was your coconut desiccated? Others have found it to be tricky and had the same issue as you with desiccated coconut. The finer the coconut, the better!

I just made these. I have to say I was a little doubtful, but they are soooo delicious! They are better than any non-vegan macaroon that I’ve made. I made a 1/2 batch (with the chocolate), and they came out perfect. Side note: I saw your video at Google, and congrats. Your recipes (and pictures and videos) are genius, and congrats on your success with this site!

I made these tonight. I used agave nectar instead of maple syrup or stevia. The taste was spot on. I also accidently forgot to add coconut oil to the aquafaba before folding in the toasted shredded coconut so I just put the coconut oil straight into the final batter then mixed it. The cooking temperature was too high or the time was too long for me. 20 minutes at 325 had my macaroons dark. Not burnt, just dark. Which means the insides were not fluffy and they were a bit on the crumbly side. My macaroons puffed up all nice and pretty though. I’m going to try to make these again with a few adjustments to the cooking time and temperature.

The Aquafaba whipped up beautifully, but when I carefully folded it into the toasted coconut, it fell and got runny, so I added more coconut (too much), and it got too dry; so I made more Aquafaba.. It was a delicate procedure but some the macaroons held together during the baking. I did not have cream of tartar so subbed baking powder. Perhaps this is why Aquafaba fell, not sure. The taste is amazing and we ate every crumb.

Dang, they tasted delicious but mine crumbled apart completely. I’m going to try freezing them and just dipping the whole things in chocolate to keep them together. It’s either that or coconut granola!

I made this recipe and it turned out awesome! I only had desiccated coconut on hand (true be told, I had one pack of shredded coconut and I burnt it while tying to toast it, but it was my fault because I didn’t pay attention to the time…..so desiccated coconut it was!). I was worried about them not sticking together but it actually turned out perfect! It was my first time working with Aquafaba as well, I am now a fan! :)

I made these last weekend. I think I was a bit coconut happy and unfortunately they were crumbly after a bite however that’s something I need to keep an eye out for the next time. Taste wise these were amazing, my boyfriend and I scoffed these within two days…very delicious.
This is just one of many recipes I have tried already …thank you for the fantastic blog x

Hi! I just made these and ran across some of the similar problems that others did in the comments, but the end result was way better than I expected! And they look so cute. They remind me of little hedgehogs. But taste like crispy, airy coconut clouds.
I also thought my aquafaba mixture got deflated after adding the melted coconut oil, but it was just more liquidy and still airy. I was paranoid about getting the right balance of moisture before scooping them out. First I thought they had too much moisture, then after adding more coconut ( I used almost all of it), I thought they were too dry. But I just had to press them into my scoop to get them to stick well. And lastly, the first half of my batch did get burned on the bottom, following the directions. So for the second half, I just kept them in the oven at 325F for 25 minutes and they turned out perfect. Ovens vary, so just gotta remember to keep an eye on them.
Anyway, while I was making them, I thought I was doing so many things wrong, so I was telling myself I’d never make these again. But after they worked out in the end, I changed my mind! Thank you for the recipe! Good reminder for me to not give up so easy when I’m trying something completely new!

My oh my, I didn’t take the time to read everything well and ended up using desiccated coconut instead of shredded coconut. The desiccated coconut I had was really dry too, so I ended up with a really crumbly mixture, then decided to add more of the aquafaba (like someone suggested in the comments) and give it a try again but unfortunately they fell apart completely. It still tasted great though, so I added the crumbly mixture to a food processor with some other ingredients and made coconut-oatmeal cookies (dipped in chocolate of course)! Will definitely give this a try again with shredded coconut! Assuming this will work with the shredded coconut, I’d def give this recipe 5 stars :)

I followed the recipe and burnt them. They were very dry, when I bit in one, dry coconut poured out. I will try another batch and reduce baking time. I am anxious to make it work and bring for family thanksgiving!

They taste great but i found that the ration of the aquafaba was too much for the coconut. even after adding all of the coconut mixture it still wasnt enough. i had to add an entire bag of coconut shreds to make it thick enough to bake.

I was very excited to try this recipe since my children are allergic to dairy, eggs, etc… I followed the recipe but sadly the macaroons did not hold, they just fell apart :( i might try them again with more maple syrup. Any other suggestions?

I am just finishing up making these and I found that liquid (melted?) out of the coconut stacks when they were in the oven. It almost looked like the aquafaba went back to its liquid state after being whipped and folded into the mixture. On top of that some of the stacks stayed together after baking, while others just fell apart. Any hints as to why that liquid would leech out would be appreciated! For the stacks falling apart, I am trying to bake them longer to see if that might do the trick.

Hi Dana.
I made this last night and followed precise directions and measurements but only had 2 different variables. The cookies tasted really delicious but were unfortunately on the crumbly side. I’m just addressing this in order to help others who may have experienced the same result, or to put these into consideration.

1- I used aquafaba from a can and it whipped amazingly well just by hand with a whisk in a stainless steel bowl, even with all the additional ingredients. it took about 3 minutes and was super frothy and retained a lot of air, almost twice the volume than perhaps a handheld beater… I’m thinking that could have been the 1st issue with the crumbliness of the coconut. I did end up having to add more coconut as the ratio was too wet.

2- Just like some others mentioning that the bottoms cook much faster than the top… I’ve learned that from other recipe trials that you have to use a light color aluminum cookie sheet, even ones that are the heavier gauge that allow air circulation as they work best for delicate cookies or meringues. I did two batches on 2 different sheet pans and the darker one was causing the macaroon bottoms to borderline over cook before the tops did. The lighter sheet yielded even browning top and bottom.

I want to make this again but feel like I need a stronger binder. I was wondering if you’ve tried an alternative binder like an egg replacer? (usually starch based like bob’s red mill), or a combo of the aquafaba and something else to help stabilise the batter better?

Hi! I love your recipes! But i made this one wrong and they are to crumbly! :( please please help me! Can i crumble they all and make something else from them, some kind of power balls or something? I will be grateful for your advice! <3

Thank you for sharing this recipe! I am severely allergic to chickpeas, peas and some other lentils. I was wondering if you know of any suitable substitutes for aquafaba that I can use to make macarons. They were a favorite of mine before I went vegan and I have yet to find a vegan macaron recipe that doesn’t use aquafaba. Thank you!

I made two batches of these. The first batch crumbled a lot. SO what I did: I baked the second batch less long -> every couple of minutes, I checked. And when they were quite firm, but still a bit (not too much) soft inside, I took them out of the oven. Once cooled, they were firm enough AND not crumbly!

I was a little worried based on the comments of them being too dry. I’d say mine were quite wet but they came out great. I’ve used aquafaba before so I knew what to look for. I highly recommend a stand mixer to whip them. Also don’t leave out the cream of tartar, it helps a lot. I wish I had a scoop. Instead, I pressed them into a round measuring tablespoon and shaped them with my hands, kind of messy. As others experienced, they started to get dark around the tips at about 15 minutes so I lowered to 300 for 5 minutes and then did 350 for 5 minutes. Parchment paper I think helped them from getting too dark in the bottom.

This recipe caused me a litany of problems — for one thing, the aquafaba mixture tastes awful. Far too much salt overpowering the rather bland aquafaba. Then, even when I added enough extra “raw” coconut to get it to congeal as a quasi-dough, it didn’t hold together. Not when I dropped it, and certainly not when they came out. Maybe putting parchment down or greasing the sheet would change that, but the macaroons still wouldn’t stay together once I tried. I couldn’t keep them in one piece on the rack, least of all dip them in chocolate.

Tyler, so sorry you had issues with this one. I found that once sweetened, the aquafaba taste is undetectable. But I will definitely look at the salt content once more. Also, this recipe is on my list to retest in order to address a few questions people are having, so stay tuned for updates.

You state in your directions that when you are toasting the shredded coconut at 350 degrees, don’t let it toast longer than 4 minutes, or it might start to burn. Then you say in the directions to add the equivalent of 1 cup of liquid to this coconut, which is already toasted, mix it into a moist dough, and put it on a baking sheet in 1 tbsp scoops. Then you say to bake these very small cookies a total of almost 35 minutes. I can’t figure out why these macaroons won’t turn into little, burnt lumps of charcoal after cooking that long when coconut burns so easily. These ingredients are not cheap, and the time it takes to make these macaroons is not inconsiderable. I have them ready to go into the oven, but before I commit to baking them as long as you say, I want to make sure my whole effort won’t be ruined.

Hi Kate. Good questions. Once the coconut is mixed with the aquafaba mixture it becomes far less prone to burn. One option is to bake for less time or at a lower temperature if you’re concerned. Also, you can skip the toasting step first next time for even less toasty macaroons. Hope that helps!

I tried these making macaroons, but it wasn’t a great success. The whipped aquafaba slumped when I added the coconut oil – should I just fold it in? The baked macaroons fall apart despite trying a wetter mix on the second batch, although they taste fine. I didn’t have shredded coconut (never seen it in UK) so used flaked coconut and chopped it up a little in a food processor before toasting. Any thoughts on what I could use to bind the dough more firmly (xantham, psyllium, chia)?

Hi Dana; I’m a big fan of Minimalist Baker. I’ve made lots and lots of your recipes, from crepes to smoothies to veggie bowls. Unfortunately this one had me stumped. No matter what ratio of toasted coconut to aquafaba mixture I tried, I couldn’t get the dough to look like your picture. In fact I’d barely describe it as dough; it was more like very wet coconut that didn’t hold a shape at all. I ended up having to rescue the recipe with (4) full eggs and nearly half a cup of corn starch to get it to bind. Wowsers. I did get a beautiful and tasty dessert in the end, but at the cost of vegan glory. Do you have any pointers for me the next time I try?